The Bucket List
by Super-sonic Iblish
Summary: What if you found out that you only have 2-3 more years left to live? What would you want to do before you die? Would you tell the girl of your dreams you love her? Would you help a friend in need? Or would you simply want to enjoy the time you have without a care? Takes place in the future sonic characters' lives.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys, it's Super-Sonic Iblish again! Here's a quick heads up: this story has got to be, without a doubt, the saddest story I've ever written, serious! But it's also romantic, cute, sweet, maybe even a little funny, so don't worry, it's not one of those downer books that nobody ever wants to read! I'll try to update more soon._

_Sonic and the crew all belong to Sega, I own nothing._

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The Bucket List

Chapter 1: The Reunion

I sighed as I walked from the store back to my dormitory with a bag of groceries, mostly TV dinners, ramen, and mac and cheese. Those were the only things I could afford to feed myself. As I was walking back to the dorm, my vision completely blocked by the giant paper bag I held in my hands, I thought back to when I was younger. I couldn't believe how much I missed being a teenager, when I was less careless and my life always seemed to be on the line. I know, it sounds a little crazy, but before our gang split up, we used to be someone. Heroes. Now I'm nothing more than another freshman!

My name is Amy Rose Hedgehog, I'm 19 years old, and I attend Marriot Doctrine University, hopefully to become a doctor one day. I used to belong in this world; I used to save lives right alongside the greatest hero of them all, the fastest thing alive, Sonic the hedgehog. But, over the years, the other teammates and I began to notice a reoccurring theme. We'd all go out and finish the job as a team, but Sonic got all the credit. He became an icon; people knew him and loved him, and nobody gave a hoot about the rest of the team that had his back! They made freakin' t-shirts and plushies of him, for crying out loud! But did they ever made an Amy plushie? No! Sonic was getting all the attention and praise, and he loved it. He absorbed the praise, all the applause and fangirlish love, just like a sponge! Fame was taking over his brain, and that's when we started losing him… that's when the gang began to fall apart. Sonic began going on missions by himself, leaving us behind, so we decided to go our own separate ways, finish school, and get jobs.

Nowadays, things have gotten noticeably better. We finally managed to get inside Sonic's big head, and soon after, he hung up his coat on fighting crime, since Eggman was taken care of by then anyways. Sonic now works as a cop in the local department, and he seems to enjoy his work. He and I say hi every day, because I pass him every day as he's out patrolling.

Tails works at the auto repair shot downtown so he can earn the money he needs for his tuition, since he's graduating this year. He wants to go to a big inventing college, but it's really far away and costs a lot of money to get in.

Nobody's heard from Knuckles in forever. After we permanently jailed Dr. Eggman, he headed back up to Angel Island, we haven't heard from him since. Sonic tried to convince him to stay, but Knuckles was so determined to get back to his island and his big, green rock. I guess we're not important enough for him to stay!

Shadow and Rouge have been gone for over two years now. I guess Shadow found out about some guy who used to work on the Ark, and actually helped in his creation, so he headed out to find the guy. Rouge came with him; she said it was to assist him as a partner, but I think it's really because she likes Shadow and he likes her. However, they've actually been writing to us, to keep in touch and tell us of their progress.

Cream has grown up and matured so beautifully, and now she is a sophomore in high school. Her chao has long-since died, after living a nice and long life. However, after Cheese died, Cream hasn't quite been the same. I'm really worried that her friends might be a bad influence on her. Whenever I see her, she reeks of smoke, although she promises she doesn't smoke, but I just don't know. Also, I realized that she had a bellybutton piercing as well, heaven know how she's been able to hide it from her mother!

Silver and Blaze are actually married already, and are reigning in their dimension as king and queen! Blaze made it seem as though she was being forced to marry, which I don't find hard to believe, being a princess and all. She did admit that it was very sudden, and she was quite angry at her parents at first, but she loves Silver very much, so I'm sure they're doing fine.

And then there's me. Nothing important or special really going on, I'm just going to boring, five hour classes and working as a waitress at a small restaurant just to pay for food and board at Marriot. So, besides my sucky classes and boring, eventless lifestyle, there's nothing truly terrible in my life, which I'm thankful for. Well, except for my jackass roommate Cassie, who I call "Assie." Basically, she's sexist; she seriously hates men with a burning passion! She's not a lesbian or anything, she just hates men. She calls them brainless, heartless, sex-crazed pigs. Seriously, if I ever got closer than a foot to a guy, she's purposely go and step in between us and pull me away, and most of the time she'd say terrible things to the guy as well. That actually happened one time; I was talking to a guy, who was just my friend, about one of the teacher's lectures, and Cassie stepped in front of me and dragged me away, turning back to shout, "There will be none of that mister!" to him. It was so humiliating! So guess who hasn't had a single boyfriend yet?

Anyways, my sucky life aside, I was walking back from the grocery store, my arms growing tired from holding the heavy paper bag in my hands for so long. I heaved an exhausted breath and peeked in front of the bag quickly before I stopped to adjust my hands on the bottom of the bag. But that's when I felt someone bump right into me, making me drop my bag to the floor, ripping the whole bottom. I initially let out a small shriek when the guy bumped into me, but then I looked down at my spilled bag, then I looked up angrily at the guy who'd ran into me, shouting, "Hey, watch it!" The guy had violet eyes and red fur and hair that reached to his cheekbones and curled all different ways in medium-length, wavy locks by his cheeks and eyes. He was wearing a white and neon graphic t-shirt with a jean jacket over it, he was carrying a black and neon colored shoulder bag, and wore a pair of baggy blue jeans. However, despite his looks, he was very apologetic.

"I'm so sorry, it's my fault," he said, as he went down onto his knees to pick up some of the spilled contents. I just wasn't in the mood that day, I wanted to get back to my dorm and rest up before my math class at four, and I let out an exaggerative sigh.

"You're lucky nothing broke open!" I said, a bit calmer than I had spoken before, and I knelt by him to help. The guy looked down for a split second as he reached for one grocery before his head quickly looked back up at me, and he cocked his head slightly with one brow raised in confusion.

"Amy? Is that you?" he asked me. I looked up at him, concentrating to see if I recognized him. There was something about those violet eyes that seemed familiar. Stumped, I slowly blinked at him and spoke.

"Do I know you?" I asked. The guy spread his arms out to his sides and replied.

"It's me, Knuckles!" he said. I cocked my head ever-so-slightly and squinted at him, as the red-haired boy looked at me. I looked back up at his violet eyes, and then it hit me; this was Knuckles! And my eyes widened at the realization, my mouth gaping.

"Knuckles?" I exclaimed, unsure if I believed what I had just said. The guy just nodded in reply, and gave me a familiar, crooked half-smile and I huffed and smiled in surprise. "Oh my god, it is you!" I exclaimed, awkwardly reaching up to tuck a piece of my hair from my face. "Wh… what're you doing down here?" I asked. "And _what_ did you do to your hair?" I added, laughing as I spoke. Knuckles raised his hand but then let it fall again on his lap.

"It's… kind of a long story," he said with a meek little smile, showing off his pearly white teeth. I looked to my side and found a small coffee shop right across the street, and I smiled. I didn't really need to rest before class anyways.

"Well, I have a couple of hours before I have to be back for class. Why don't we go to the coffee shop across the street and you can tell me everything there," I offered, looking back at him. "…Anyways, maybe they'll have an extra bag they can give me for my groceries," I added, laughing awkwardly again and scratching at the back of my head. Knuckles nodded, chuckling as well.

"Sure, sorry again about that," he replied, and he grabbed a couple of my groceries for me and stood up.

"It's no problem!" I replied, and I grabbed the rest of the groceries and stood up as well, and we both headed across the street.

"So, what's up with the new haircut?" I asked him as we sat at a table, after getting a plastic bag to hold my groceries.

"I know, it looks so dumb! Apparently under my dreadlocks I have a natural wave to my hair," he said with a "watcha' gonna do?" kind of attitude, shrugging slightly.

"No, actually, I think it looks kind of dashing! It's got that nice kind of wind-blown wave to it," I replied with a smile. "I'm just not used to seeing you with such short hair! And no dreadlocks anymore! When did you do this?" I asked. Knuckles smiled back at me and looked down at his hands folded on the tabletop.

"Probably around three years ago," he replied.

"Three years? How long have you been off of Angel Island?" I asked. "And what about the Master Emerald?"

"Amy, the Master Emerald is gone," Knuckles replied simply, without much emotion to his voice.

"How do you mean? Is it stolen again?" I asked. Knuckles shook his head no.

"No, it's gone… forever. One morning I woke up and it just wasn't there," he replied. "I was all set out to go and find it, when Tikal's spirit appeared in front of me and told me that I had fulfilled my destiny, and now I was excused from my duties. I waited around for awhile, suspecting it may be a test or something, but days turned to weeks, and weeks turned to months, and the Master Emerald still never re-appeared. And after I got over the initial shock that I didn't have to watch the Emerald anymore faded away, I left the island. Since then, I cut my hair, as a symbol of my freedom, got a job down here, and rented an apartment to stay at," Knuckles replied.

"And this happened three years ago? And you never told any of us?" I asked him.

"Nobody cares about me anymore," Knuckles replied with a quieter voice, looking down at his hands. I pounded my fist of the table, and spoke with a raised voice.

"That is not true! If you had just told us about this, we could've helped you through all of this! But you chose not to tell us!" I said. Knuckles' eyes traveled around to the people who were now looking at us, then he looked back at me. "We're your friends, Knuckles! We could've helped you!"

"Well then, where were you on my birthday? Or in the harsh winters when I nearly froze? Or when I was lonely?" Knuckles asked me. "You were never there for me then, why should I just expect that you'd help me then?" He didn't sound angry when he spoke, which was surprising, but he definitely sounded hurt. I looked down at my knees under the table, not knowing how to answer the question. Finally, I spoke to break the silence.

"I'm sorry we weren't there for you in the past," I said. "It was always so hard to stay in contact with you when you were up there on the island. Honestly, I'm just glad you're ok," I said, looking up at his violet eyes and giving him a sympathetic smile. Knuckles looked at me as I smiled for a moment, before he sighed.

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have blamed it on you guys. I'm just under a lot of stress right now," he said. I reached out and held his hand in mine from across the table.

"What's bothering you? Really, you can tell me," I said. Knuckles attempted to pull his hand away and stand up, but I held onto it tight enough that he couldn't without ripping his hand from mine, and he stopped and stood there, looking at me. "What's wrong?" I asked. "I promise you I'll listen."

"N-No… I have to go," he said, and he turned to leave, but I still had his hand, and he stopped when I yanked on his arm. "Please Amy, I don't want to talk about it," he asked me nicely. I didn't care though, I wanted to know what was up; he was hiding something!

"Knuckles… please?" I pleaded, looking at him with worried and concerned eyes.

"GoodBYE Amy!" Knuckles said, raising his voice, and he finally yanked his hand from mine. However, when he did, his handbag flew off his shoulder and fell to the ground, and everything in his bag spilled out onto the floor. Knuckles swore under his breath and bent down to quickly shove everything back into his bag, but something had caught my eye, and I reached down and picked it up. It was a small, round pill bottle labeled "Epoetin." I was confused, because Epoetin was a medication normally used to grow new blood cells, and that isn't normally prescribed by doctors unless the patient had… leukemia! I looked from the pill bottle to Knuckles, who had finished shoving his stuff into his bag, and he looked up and made eye contact with me, and he fell silent. I stared at Knuckles with wide and terrified eyes, and he looked back with equally nervous and scared eyes.

"Knuckles..?" I started, pausing to take a deep breath. "Why do you have these?" I asked slowly and quietly, my voice quavering as I felt my heart start to beat fast.

"It… it's nothing!" Knuckles tried to cover up, snatching the bottle from my hand and stuffing it in his bag quickly. "It's just some pain medication," he said.

"No," I said, "That drug grows new blood cells, and is only prescribed to leukemia and cancer patients." Knuckles looked at me for a moment, nervousness in his eyes. "Knuckles, what's going on?" I asked cautiously. The red-furred echidna put one hand to his face and rubbed his temple, muttering, "Oh god." He looked up at me, and I realized he had tears in his eyes.

"I-I never wanted anyone to find out," he said with a shaky voice. "Th-The truth is… I'm dying."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, it's me! I've posted another chapter! Now, before I begin, I'd like to set a few things straight from the comments.**

**1Past and Present1: I looked up the proper spelling of leukemia, and it actually goes both ways. Because the way I spelled it went through on the Microsoft Word spellcheck, and when I Google searched it. The way you spelled it (leukaemia) is also correct, and it means the same exact thing.  
And also, when you stated, "'There was something about those violet eyes that seemed familiar.'  
-This makes Amy seem a little dumb. Knuckles is the only male she knows who has such eyes. Then again, she did mistake Shadow for Sonic..." I wasn't trying to make Amy seem dumb. I was trying to emphasize the fact that Knuckles looked really different from the way he was before, and she was having trouble recognizing him. If you think about it, This is at least 7 years into the future, so that'd make Knuckles about 23 years old. If that doesn't make him already look a bit different, then his short and wavy heair will. ****Thank you, though, for the comment.**

**explodinghead: ****This story isn't going to have a lot of fast-paced action, and I'm sorry. I know, I like stories that start out fun and exciting, but I needed to explain the characters' stories and lives first. Thank you for the comment.**

**Lord Kelvin:**** I'm sorry if you found the characters OOC, I was trying to keep them as in character as possible. And about the characters being stuck in boring lives, just wait, it'll get better. Stuff's gonna happen to each of their lives, making things change, for either the better or the worst. Also, I guess you are right, Tikal could've done something about a little leukemia, but I hadn't thought of it, and also, that wasn't the angle of the story I was going for. But thanks for the comment.**

**Again, I thank all three of you guys for reviewing and for the critique. Friendly criticism is, in fact, part of what creates a professional author. Also, I'm not trying to one-up you guys and prove I was right and you were wrong or any junk like that, I was just further explaining so you can understand. Please note, I don't want to start any fights. **

**Thanks and enjoy the next chapter!**

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I could only stare blankly at him at first, as he looked at me with true sincerity in his eyes. He couldn't possibly be lying about this. It all seemed to make sense now; the short hair, him being so far away from his home and so close to a hospital, the pills… he had leukemia! I could feel tears tugging at my eyes as well, as I stammered a small reply.

"You… are?" Knuckles nodded.

"I came to the hospital for my checkup and medication, and that's when they discovered I had leukemia. But they said it was discovered too late for them to fix it," Knuckles said solemnly.

"What… do you mean medication? Were you already sick when this happened?" I asked him. Knuckles looked at me for a second with confusion, before he spoke curiously.

"You mean… you couldn't tell?" he asked me, "I've had it all my life. I'm autistic; had it for most of my life," he said.

"No way, you do not have autism!" I defended, "I've seen people with autism, you don't have it!"

"No, I do," Knuckles replied calmly.

"B-But… autistic people are quiet and they stay away from people. You're not like that!" I said. Knuckles shook his head at my response.

"Remember when we were younger, and I didn't mingle with others very well? I didn't talk much to you guys, and when I did, it was in anger? It's because I had autism; I didn't know how to deal with situations, so I reacted in the only way I knew I could, with anger," he replied. "I recall Sonic calling me antisocial many times, but that's not the case, it's because I've been stuck by myself all my life, and it developed into this disease." I could've sworn I heard a hint of pain in Knuckles' voice as he continued. "…All that time I spent alone on that cursed island, it turned me into someone I'm not," he said, looking down. I tried to speak, to calm him.

"Knuckles, I-,"

"You think I chose to be like this?" he blurted, interrupting me. "Do you think I wanted to be a social outcast with nobody but a giant rock as a companion?" Knuckles wiped at one cheek and let out a long sigh to calm himself. "And now, on top of it, I'm going to die, having done nothing with my life," he said. "For all I know, I bet that rock is what gave me this cancer in the first place!" he said, his voice getting louder again. "All that radiation it gave off, it probably caused it! I don't know! I wish I'd never been given this job!" he said, and he rested his head in his hands, his elbows on the table in front of me. I was speechless; I didn't even know what to ask or say that wouldn't make things worse than they already are. So I just stayed where I was, watching him try and relax himself, listening to his heavy breathing. Finally, I ducked under the table and came up on the other side, so I can sit next to him, and I wrapped an arm around his firm, but trembling shoulder. He didn't look up, mostly because I think he was crying in his hands, and he probably didn't want me to see. He was still the same old echidna I knew.

"Knuckles," I said in my best "motherly" voice, "If you weren't who you are now, then we would've never met you," I said, and I squeezed him tight. His face remained looking down into his palms, but he spoke with a truly hurt voice.

"I know," that was all he could say. I readjusted my arms and gave him a proper hug, and then I let go and spoke with a peppier voice, hoping I could try and cheer him up.

"Hey Knuckles, how about tonight we go get some dinner together at the Olive Garden? We could update each other on our personal lives, and you can tell me what's really going on?" I offered, my hands folded on the table. He didn't answer at first, so I decided to seal the deal off with a little bribe. "And, if you want, I could even get us some Italian ice cream afterwards? I know this great place on the edge of town that has the best Italian ice cream in 25 flavors. How does that sound?"

Knuckles let out another long sigh, and he wiped his eyes with his arm and looked up at me. I kept smiling, to try and lighten him up, as he looked at me with red, puffy eyes. Finally, he meekly nodded.

"Thank you Amy… for listening," he said, and without another word, he stood up and took his bag. He was at the door when I called his name, and he stopped and looked back.

"Does 7 o'clock tonight sound good?" I asked him. Knuckles' lip curled ever-so-slightly, into what you could call a grin, and he nodded, before he left.

Now that I was alone, I finally had time to process all that I had learned. "_So… all this time, Knuckles was autistic? And he never told us?" _I thought,_ "Well, he just suspected that we could tell. But cancer? I just can't believe he has cancer! And the doctors really can't do anything?"_ I had thought about what he'd said, how he'd just flat-out stated "I'm dying" like it was nothing. But if he's really dying, then when? How? It was a good thing we were meeting up again tonight.

I stood up and looked at my watch. "Oh my god, I'm going to be late for class!" I cried, and I grabbed my groceries and quickly headed out the door.

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Later that afternoon, dragging my heels, I trudged back to my dorm. Math was the most boring it had ever been that day, it was practically torture! I walked into my dorm and immediately plopped onto my bed, letting out an un-appealing groan into my pillow.

"Bad day today?" a voice called from my side. I looked up from my pillow and saw Cassie sitting on the bed next to me, cross-legged, holding a book in her hands. Apparently, I was so tired and stressed that I walked right past her without even noticing.

"Ugh, the worst day!" I said, before I stuck my face back into my pillow. "I guess the only good thing was that I met up with an old friend I haven't seen since I was 13," I said, the pillow muffling my words.

"Really? Who is she?" Cassie asked.

"Not a she, he's a he," I mumbled.

"Oh… ok," Cassie replied, and her eyes trailed back to her book. She didn't say one more thing about the subject, until around 6:30. At that point, I was putting on a nicer shirt and fixing my hair for dinner tonight. I decided to wear a purple shawl with a black tank top under it, and the same jeans I was already wearing. Then Cassie walked in on me when I was putting on mascara, I nearly poked my eye out with the stick, and she asked me why I was "getting all dolled up." (Ok, here's one more thing about Cassie; she says the oldest sayings and the weirdest things! I don't know what to say to her!)

I said I was meeting up with the friend I had told her about earlier for dinner. That's when Cassie went crazy-mode.

"Dinner? You mean like a date? Amy, you haven't seen him in 6 years! For all you know, he might have become a pedophile in that time, and he's just trying to lure you away so he can use you for his own dirty purposes!" Cassie cried, taking a second's break for air, and she began to go onto one of her rants. I moaned and slouched onto the counter, not even listening to her as she rambled on and on and looking at my bored expression in the mirror.

"Cassie," I said bleakly, but she just kept talking. "Cassie!" Still no response from her, so I shouted louder. "CASSIE!" I practically screamed at the top of my lungs. Now Cassie stopped, and she looked at me and asked "what?"

"He's not a pedophile!" I said. "He's shy around girls! And the only reason I'm having dinner with him is because he has leukemia and is dying and I want to cheer him up! Now will you get off my back!" I stared at Cassie angrily as I waited for a response. Cassie made a bit of a guilty look, but without a word, she walked out of the bathroom, closing the door and leaving me in peace.

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I was late; it was around 7:15 when I got to Olive garden, mostly because Cassie would not shut up. She was going over the rules of a proper and safe date as I left the door. She followed me to my car, and was still reciting these rules until I drove away! No matter what Cassie says, I know Knuckles would never do anything harmful to me; he was too good for that.

I walked into the restaurant and looked to see if Knuckles was already there. Sure enough, I saw him sitting at a table by the corner. I told the waitress at the door that I was with him, and I was able to walk past and up to the table. Knuckles looked up at me and smiled as I approached and sat down. He wasn't wearing anything too fancy either, which relieved me; some of the people in this restaurant wore the gaudiest and fanciest clothes! Knuckles was just wearing a white collared shirt and a pair of jeans.

I said hi to him as I sat down, and he said hi back. It was quiet for a moment, as I dug in my purse for nothing in particular, before Knuckles spoke. He had certain urgency in his voice, like he'd had the entire sentence planned.

"I just want to apologize for earlier today," he said to me, "That was uncalled for. I just wanted to finally tell someone, y'know? Because, I hadn't told anyone about my condition, and I probably should have. The rest of it just kind of came out too."

"That's ok, you're going through a lot right now," I replied with a smile showing my teeth. "I'm wondering, though… why didn't you tell any of us about this, if you found out you had it three years ago?" I asked.

"I tried to contact you, but all of your phone numbers had changed," Knuckles replied. "I had no clue where you guys lived now, so I was kind of left in the dark." I pulled my ears down guiltily.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly.

"S'ok, I didn't expect you guys to remember me anyways," Knuckles said, looking to his side awkwardly. A moment later, his eyes trailed back over to me. "I'm sorry, I'm doing it again, aren't I?" he asked me.

"Just a little," I replied with a smirk. But then I lost my smirk again when I continued. "So, tell me the truth, is the Master Emerald really gone? Is that the real reason why you're down here?" I asked him. Knuckles' eyes shifted away uneasily.

"No…" he admitted. "It's still up there. I left to try and find my friends. The doctors had basically told me, 'You're going to die, we can't fix you.' I felt so scared, I just wanted some comfort." I reached out and took his hand in mine, rubbing my thumb against his palm.

"So… you're really going to die?" I asked him. He nodded. "When?" I asked. I had suspected it to be sometime in the late future, but his answer scared me.

"Two… maybe three years," he replied gravely. My hand tensed around his, and he looked down at it when I did. My free hand went to my mouth and I gasped, feeling tears burning at my eyes. Knuckles looked up at me and saw the tears on my cheeks, and he spoke sincerely.

"Why are _you_ crying?" he asked, cocking his head slightly to one side.

"I-I can't believe it!" I cried, wiping at my eye with my free hand. "You had no warning… you're so sick that you're dying, and now you only have _two years_ until you die? It's just so unfair! If only we'd have cared about this earlier, then maybe you'd have a greater chance of surviving!" I cried, putting my head down and frowning as a tear ran down my cheek. I was so conflicted with emotions. I was sad for him being in the situation he was in, I hated myself for never caring and the doctors for not helping, and at the same time, I was happy that Knuckles had ran into me in the street this morning. If he hadn't, nobody would've ever seen Knuckles again.

And suddenly, Knuckles' second hand was lifting my chin up to look at him, and I stared with wet eyes up at him. His touch was so gentle on my skin, it was as if his hand was made of silk; soft, velvety, red silk. His hand left my chin and went on top of my hand, so now it appeared as though he held my hand, rather than me holding his. "_I am breaking so many of Cassie's rules right now,"_ I thought.

"I don't want you to feel that way," Knuckles said to me. "I brought this on myself, it's not your fault," he said. "It's not yours, it's not Sonic's, it's not Tails', it's not anyone else's fault; it's mine. I hardly ever left the island, so I never got proper medical treatment, so the leukemia went unnoticed. It's not because of you." He looked at me with his caring and gentle eyes, and he squeezed my hand tight between his. "I'm glad I have two years, that's what the Lord has given me," he continued softly. "And I want my last few years to be filled with good memories, not sadness, so please stop crying? I'm fine," he asked me. I continued to stare into his hypnotizing violet eyes, and I nodded slowly and blinked.

"O-Ok," I murmured, and I think my lips formed into a small smile, I couldn't tell. Knuckles let go of my hands and I immediately wiped at my eyes with the backs of them. Then I sighed and folded my hands in my lap, trying to cheer myself up again. After a few moments of awkward silence, Knuckles spoke again.

"I feel so pig-headed, I keep rambling on about myself; I haven't even asked you about yourself yet," he said. "How're things going with you?" he asked. I shrugged.

"Ok, I guess. I got accepted into Marriot, like I wanted. I'm studying to become a doctor," I said. Knuckles nodded.

"Yeah, you mentioned that you wanted to go there for some time now," he said. I made a small smile, but completely forgot what I was going to say, so I ended up just looking at Knuckles awkwardly without saying a word. I realized what I was doing when Knuckles' smile started to fade, and I quickly blinked and brought a hand to my forehead.

"I-I'm sorry… my life seems so dull in comparison," I said to him with a meek smile.

"That's alright. Sometimes dull is better than fast-paced. I believe it's nice to slow down sometimes, even if it may not be very exciting," he replied.

"Forgive me for asking," I said to him, "But… earlier you said you also have autism… how come you don't look like you do now?" When Knuckles gave me a "how do you mean?" kind of look, I continued. "Well, usually, autistic people have trouble communicating and bonding with people. You don't seem to have a problem talking with me," I explained.

"I've been taking medication," Knuckles replied, "I guess it's really helped better my people skills." I nodded and said "Oh," but I just wished I hadn't brought it up. Now us talking together seemed awkward again, so I quickly changed the subject.

"The good news is, I can probably graduate a year early from college because of my IQ," I said, "As long as I get A's and B's in all of my subjects this year."

"That's good," Knuckles replied. "So, how're the others? Have you actually had a chance to see them?" he asked me.

"I see Sonic every day on my way to work," I replied. "He's a cop."

"So he's still a hero, eh?" Knuckles asked with a hint of humor in his voice. I smiled and nodded, feeling better knowing that the echidna was happy now.

"Tails is graduating from high school this year," I continued. "He wants to go to a really high-tech inventor's college, but he's still a little short in cash…" As I explained, in great detail, the lives of all our friends, Knuckles nodded and commented on each of them. But as I continued to tell him about his friends and teammates, I noticed more and more of the life in his eyes disappearing. He suddenly began to look quite ill by the end of the conversation, and I grew worried.

"Knuckles..? You look terrible, are you feeling ok?" I asked him.

"I'm fine," he said, and he swallowed hard. "It's the medication, sometimes the side effects start to flare up, but it's nothing. Just a little nausea." I got up and came around to him and felt at his forehead with the back of my hand.

"You don't feel too warm," I said, "That's good."

"It's ok, I'll be fine. It usually passes in an hour or so," Knuckles replied. After giving him a look to make sure it was all clear, I sat back down in my spot. Knuckles played with his thumbnail and spoke. "It's great that everyone's enjoying themselves," he said. "I'm happy for them." It grew quiet again, for like, the third time that evening, but this one lasted the longest. I began to pick at whatever I had left of my food on my plate that I just didn't feel like eating, not looking my friend in the face anymore. I wasn't sure what Knuckles was doing, but I'm sure it was the same thing as me.

It was beginning to get late, my cell phone read 8:30 pm. I secretly glanced up at Knuckles, to find him looking at his hands, which were folded on top of the table. He looked consumed in thought, and although I wanted to break this terrible silence, I just didn't want to disturb him, so I looked back down again.

But then, the moment I was looking for; Knuckles looked up and called my name, probably hoping to strike up another conversation. In my mind, I was thanking God, as I looked up and said "Yes?"

"I was wondering…" he started, his eyes trailing off towards something else for a moment and his cheeks turning bright red, before he looked back at me. "…D-Do you..? Y-You see… I've always kind of liked you, and… I just wanted to ask," he gulped nervously and continued. "W-Will you… go on a date with me?" he asked. And suddenly, I felt the excitement inside freeze, and my heart nearly leapt into my throat. I just didn't know what to say to him. This poor guy, who's probably never been on a date in his life, and who's getting closer to death with every day, had asked me out! Initially, I thought, "_Just say yes to make him happy. The poor guy's dying, give him something nice in the little while he has!"_ But then I realized I didn't even know if I liked him! I mean, sure, we've known each other since we were little, but I never really thought about dating him! But if I said no, it'll crush him! I was completely stumped, and Knuckles sat waiting for my reply, his cheeks still pink like my fur.

He must've noticed my uneasiness about his question, because he began to speak again before I could reply. "Y-You don't have to say yes. I won't mind if you say no. I just… wanted to know if you would," he clarified, in a very friendly tone. I looked into his violet eyes, those eyes that, for some reason, gave me warmth and comfort, and I made a tiny smile.

"Yes," I said quietly, nearly a whisper. Knuckles' face seemed to light up by my response.

"Really?" he asked hopefully. I nodded, and he smiled possibly the biggest smile I've ever seen on him. "Thank you," he said to me. I stood up from my seat and grabbed up my bag.

"It's getting late," I said. "If we still want to get Italian ice cream before the shop closes, we should go now." Knuckles nodded in agreement and also stood up. I placed the money for dinner on the edge of the table, and reached out and took Knuckles' hand in mine. I felt at his knuckle spikes with my thumb, before we walked out of the restaurant, hand in hand. As we walked to the Italian ice place, I thought over my feelings for the echidna. He was like a brother to me, I could tell him anything, and I did. He knew all of my secrets, he was there for me when I was down, and now that I said yes, I would be risking our friendship if we ever broke up. I felt a slight constricting feeling as we walked hand in hand, and I realized. "_What have I done?"_


End file.
